Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/680

660 system is obvious. Internal trade was cramped, manufacturing and agricultural industries were fettered, and inclination to undertake local enterprises was choked. Rules and regulations affecting the management of the excise department were incessantly issued. From among the numerous laws passed I select a few. Colored people, though paying tribute, were not exempt from alcabala. This order was passed in 1653. Montemayor, Ordenanzas, f. 1, with Montemayor, Sumarios de Cédulas. The tax was not to be collected on sales, the proceeds of which were to be devoted to religious purposes, 1722; nor upon property sold for division among heirs, a. d. 1735. Providencias Reales, MS., 144-5, 223-5. In some districts the alcabala used to be farmed out; in 1776 this system was discontinued and the collection made on the king's account. ''Disposic. Varias,'' i. f. 53. In 1777 an order was passed prohibiting leases of 10 years or upward, unless the same alcabala was paid as if the property were sold. Town lots sold for building purposes were subject to half the alcaba'a duty. Real Cédula, Aug. 21, 1777, pp. 1-3. Tax suits could only be admitted on appeal when they related to money returnable. Royal cédula of May 22, 1760. Providencias Reales, MS., 27-34. Indians to be exempted when suffering from epidemics. Id., 107-0. Royal magnanimity was also extended to paupers and ti'avelling poor who sold 'maiz, granos, y semillas. . . para provision de los Pueblos.' Recop de Ind., ii. 502. Churches, monasteries, prelates, and ecclesiastics were also exempt from alcabala 'de las ventas que hicieren de sus bienes;' but if any other article was sold the tax had to be paid. Ib. In 1796 a tax of 15 percent was ordered to be paid on all property transferred. Cedulario, MS., iii. f. 129-32. San Ildefonso, Aug. 21, 1777. The king this day forbids in his dominions leases of 10 years or upward unless they pay the alkabala the same as if the property were sold. Town lots sold for building dwelling-houses or other edifices adorning towns to pay half the alcabala duty. Real Cédula, Aug. 1-21, 1777, pp. 1-3.

But the purchasers of imported goods paid still more highly for the satisfaction of their wants or luxuries. The almojarifazgo, or custom duty, was charged on all merchandise entering or leaving the